


what to do? (you)

by whochanwoo



Series: times jeno thinks jaemin lives up to his "special friend" title [9]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Boys In Love, Canon Compliant, Demisexuality, Friendship, Jealous Na Jaemin, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Lee Jeno Are Best Friends, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Na Jaemin Are Best Friends, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan is a Little Shit, M/M, Soft Lee Jeno
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28139502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whochanwoo/pseuds/whochanwoo
Summary: “Sleep with me.”“I’ll lower the volume if you want—”“No, Jeno, I’m asking you to sleep with me."“Yeah, okay, in a bit. I wanna finish this game.” Jeno frowns, still confused.“Jeno,” Jaemin sits up, matches Jeno’s eye level, stares dead on, and continues with, “have sex with me.”OrJaemin could have confessed and said "I like you" but there's something wrong with him and he asked if he could get into Jeno's pants instead.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Series: times jeno thinks jaemin lives up to his "special friend" title [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1838488
Comments: 12
Kudos: 205





	what to do? (you)

**Author's Note:**

> heavily inspired by Johnny saying Jaemin rides the bike a lot in that wild ass vid of Work It unit being Greek Gods/Goddesses. yes i wrote a whole fic based on that. also inspired by renjun and jisung recently being roommates, and my boredom.

“Who do you think is the most handsome one out of all?” Donghyuck asks, a ghost of a smile haunting his lips. 

Jaemin holds the microphone to his lips, almost hissing when he recognises this to be one of Donghyuck’s many asshole moves. He takes a while, and just to evade extra attention, he picks no one. Jaemin does have someone in mind. He thinks Jeno’s handsome, of course, and that would have been his usual answer if this was a normal interview set in normal circumstances. 

No, it’s Sun&Moon, and literally  _ every  _ member is here. 

Donghyuck seems a little disappointed when Jaemin doesn’t pick anyone, but he’s quick to recover. He jabs at Jaemin’s words a little more, teases Jaehyun too, before asking them both to leave. 

Honestly speaking, Jaemin thought it would have been more professional than this. Well, considering the fact that their managers had to pull Donghyuck and Taeil aside to discuss this in secret, everyone had expected a lot more. Maybe it’s just the both of them being hard-headed and doing things their own way, but Jaemin has no doubt that whatever Donghyuck does would be well received. 

Jaemin leaves. He stalks away with his expensive-looking suit, with his slicked-back hair he’s had to bleach his scalp off for. At the last second, before Donghyuck greets the next few “guests”, he meets Jaemin’s eyes with his own ones. 

Donghyuck winks, and Jaemin grumbles under his breath curses the staff around him should never hear.

  
  
  
  
  


Back at home, Jaemin slumps in his bed. It’s nice to have a whole room to himself. Since Jaemin had to take part in two title tracks, Renjun agreed that it would be better for Jaemin to get a room to himself. At least to get that alone time to cool off. Renjun’s a really understanding person. He knows Jaemin’s the type who needs to be away for a second. 

It’s nice to have that space after being surrounded with people all day and all night. Things are different when it’s not with Dream. Jaemin doesn’t have to pretend like he’s feeling okay just to be polite. With Dream, he can frown and curse all he wants because they’re kids of his age, and they’ve grown up with Jaemin.

With the older ones, however, it’s a completely different story. Even if he feels like shit, he has to pretend like he’s fine because that’s the more polite thing to do. Now, he knows they’re nice people, and he trusts all of them enough even when he’s not as close to some. It’s just… not the same.

Jaemin appreciates having the space. He can laze around all he wants and he can rest without someone calling him rude for showing such a sour face. It’s not sour. He’s just… he naturally has a resting bitch face. That’s about it. That’s all there is to it. 

When he’s ready to throw the covers over himself and go to sleep, there’s a knock at the door. Jaemin takes a moment to roll his eyes, annoyed that someone is interrupting him when he’s in the mood to sleep.

“Yeah?” 

The door creaks open at his response. Renjun pops in, smiling wide. “Hi.”

“Hello.” Jaemin frowns.

“When are you going to tell him?” 

Jaemin throws the covers over his head as he groans. “Bye.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


Jaemin meets Donghyuck again in the toilet. He expected a scolding, maybe another jab to his cowardly ego, but Donghyuck coos at him before pulling him in for a hug. It’s strange. Jaemin doesn’t know if this is one of those days where his best friend’s acting weird or acting normal. 

Nevertheless, Jaemin hasn’t forgotten how nice a hug is. He revels in the warmth, squishing Donghyuck even closer. They don’t talk; Jaemin too tired to, and Donghyuck too lost in his thoughts. He does that a lot, he overthinks and then finds himself wandering the moon with how far his mind has run off by itself. 

“Don’t slack off while practicing,” Donghyuck murmurs at last, pulling away to give Jaemin a smile. 

“I never do,” Jaemin scoffs. 

Donghyuck smacks his ass on the way out, cackling when Jaemin grumbles a complaint. Looking back at the mirror, Jaemin takes the chance to wash his face. He feels icky, and three showers in a row can’t even make him feel any better, he just knows it. 

Why does he feel tired? 

Practice? 

Maybe not. Maybe Donghyuck knew just what a mentally drained Jaemin looks like and chose to give him some semblance of comfort. They’ve been on and off for the whole duration of their friendship, always bickering, but they’ve always taken care of each other when needed.

When Donghyuck goes through his occasional mood swings, or times when he doesn’t feel like joking around so much, Jaemin would take up the role if needed. Even if it’s just for a short while. He’d be the merry one, throw in jokes or act weird enough that people wouldn’t notice anything. It comes natural when he’s in the mood anyway. 

Jaemin isn’t tired because of practice. He’s mentally drained. And he hasn’t told anyone but of course they would notice. The kids have always been attentive to each other’s needs. 

Jaemin just hopes Jeno wouldn’t do anything about it.

Jeno would notice. He would be the first to notice, but Jaemin hopes he doesn’t say anything.

  
  
  
  
  
  


Jaemin narrows his eyes at his door creaking open, but a grin quickly breaks out when he sees Jisung. The younger one plops onto his bed and quietly plays his game. There’s no talking, but Jaemin realises what he’s trying to do. Sure enough, after 20 minutes, Jisungs ups and leaves the same way he came.

When he’s left alone, Jaemin chuckles to himself, thinking how cute Jisung is. That’s how Jisung makes people feel better; he sees how someone’s feeling, and then he adjusts his behaviour accordingly. Jisung’s quite the chameleon most of the time. No one can pinpoint his main behavioural traits because it changes all the time. 

A minute later, Chenle calls. 

“Jaemin Hyung!” Chenle chirps.

“Yeah?”

“I cooked. Are you proud?”

“What did you cook?” 

“Something western for today since I didn’t feel like eating something busy.”

They chat for a little while about random stuff, and it almost feels like Chenle’s stalling for something. It’s as if he has something to ask but just can’t manage to say it aloud. Luckily enough, a call from Kun comes in and Chenle begrudgingly hangs up.

Surprisingly feeling a little more chipper after both of the youngest ones paid him some attention, Jaemin leaves his room and slides right into the one next to his. He pauses and blanks out for a second when he sees Jeno winking and making kissy faces at the mirror. 

“What are you doing?” Jaemin questions.

Jeno jumps. “Oi, that scared me.”

“I scared you?” Jaemin’s incredulous tone only prompts a laugh out of Jeno.

“A man has to do what he has to do,” Jeno wittily responds.

“Sure, Jen,” Jaemin says with a shit-eating grin.

“Did you need something from my room?” Jeno finally asks when he’s settled comfortably on the bed.

Jaemin takes a seat next to Jeno, laying down too. “Nothing much. Just wanted to sleep.”

“Sleep in your own room. Jisung moved out for a reason.” Jeno pushes Jaemin with what little strength he could muster at that moment, but it’s all for show. He has never minded sharing his bed. “Come on, Jaemin.”

“Don’t be an asshole,” Jaemin mumbles.

He shifts even closer, basically snuggling into the pillows and blanket as he closes his eyes shut. His breathing soon evens out, and Jeno knows it’s too late to kick Jaemin out now that he’s made up his mind. With a sigh, he turns to his phone and launches up a game. 

A few minutes later, Jaemin reaches for his hand and tucks it under the covers. Jeno looks on in confusion.

“Sleep with me.” 

“I’ll lower the volume if you want—”

“No, Jeno, I’m asking you to sleep with me.”

“Yeah, okay, in a bit. I wanna finish this game.” Jeno frowns, still confused.

“Jeno,” Jaemin sits up, matches Jeno’s eye level, stares dead on, and continues with, “have sex with me.”

  
  
  
  
  
  


“I asked him to have sex with me,” Jaemin says as he barges into Donghyuck’s room with Donghyuck tailing him. Johnny startles in his bed, and Jaemin throws out a casual apology.

“And what did he say?” Donghyuck hands Jaemin an ice cream as he passes by to get to his desk. He plops down on his chair, leaning back and hanging his head over the headrest as he listens in. “Did he reject you?”

“I think so?” Jaemin grimaces. 

“How can you think so? It’s a yes or no question.”

“Well,” Jaemin unwraps the ice cream wrapper, “he smiled and then told me to go to sleep.”

“That’s not a no,” Donghyuck positively cuts in, then he deflates, “but that’s not a yes either.”

“Exactly. I guess I have to keep asking.” 

“No—” Donghyuck sputters— “Please, don’t do that.”

“Why not?” Jaemin seems affronted now that Donghyuck isn’t pushing him to confess.

A few days before the announcement of NCT 2020, Jaemin had pulled both Renjun and Donghyuck to the side to tell them what’s been bugging him. Renjun had scoffed, saying he’s been on Twitter amongst the fans for too long not to notice the little moments Jeno and Jaemin share. He left promptly after, saying he doesn’t see anything wrong if Jaemin does make a move. Meanwhile, Donghyuck interrogated him like he was a criminal put on the stands. 

They came to a conclusion that  _ yes _ Jaemin wants Jeno. In general. He just… wants Jeno. 

His two friends agreed that Jaemin should tell Jeno, and now that he has formally asked, he doesn’t know what else to do. Jaemin drops his head in his hands, his rant muffled as Donghyuck listens on attentively. Regret is evident from the way Jaemin droops in his spot. 

“Listen, Jaemin, I don’t mean to pry, but don’t you think you should try flirting?” Johnny chimes in, sitting up on his bed to get a better look of a dismayed Jaemin and a seemingly uncaring Donghyuck. “Asking again can appear a bit too annoying, and giving up isn’t recommended considering he didn’t reject you outrightly. So, just… tip around the waters a little.” 

“Tip around?” Jaemin perks up.

“Yeah,” Johnny nods, “tip around.”

“How?” Donghyuck raises an eyebrow to the roof. 

“I don’t know, stare at him a lot? Pick-up lines? Follow him around? More pick-up lines?” Johnny cackles. “You do you.”

“What if he finds me creepy?” 

“No offence, buddy, but you should have worried about that even before you became his friend.” Donghyuck snorts.

Jaemin hurls a pillow at him. “Fuck you.”

“Bitch, I have ice cream in my hand,” Donghyuck shrieks.

“And I have had enough of you!” Jaemin throws his body back onto the bed, convulsing as he screams. “Help me out!”

“Whatever you do,” Donghyuck starts, his glare softening as the frown on his face fades away, “I’ll be here for you.” 

Silence ensues as Jaemin breathes in the comfort of Donghyuck. He hums, nodding arrogantly because he knew that from way before. Donghyuck and him are inseparable. As much as Donghyuck and Mark are, as much as Jeno and Jaemin are—as much as people don’t see. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


Thing is, Jaemin knows just how deep Donghyuck and Jeno’s friendship is. There’s something intimate there that even #1 Best Friend Mark couldn’t even compare to. It’s unspoken most of the time. Jeno has been there for Donghyuck for most of his troubles, maybe more than Mark has. Jeno’s understanding, and though he’s the type to have his choices and preferences swayed by everyone around him, his kindness stands its ground. They all have unique friendship dynamics with each other, actually, but even more so with Donghyuck and Jeno. 

So, when Donghyuck actively helps Jaemin avoid Jeno by dragging him around for the rest of the day, it catches him off by surprise. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever told you; did you know I have the softest spot in my heart for you?” Donghyuck cheerfully informs Jaemin during one of their toilet breaks in between practice.

“Oh?” Jaemin dumbly blinks.

“No kidding.” Donghyuck gives Jaemin a look, as if to tell him he’s being serious this time. “I feel like if someone ever insulted Mark or Jeno, I would get upset, but I won’t really do much. I’ll let them handle it themselves. But if anyone insulted you, I’d publicly fight them.” 

“Oh.” Jaemin dumbly grins. 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes when Jaemin pounces on him to give him a bear hug. He pretends like he doesn’t like it, but he knows best just how touch-oriented he is. He loves this. He craves this on the daily. Donghyuck laughs along to Jaemin’s excited rambling as he returns the hug.

  
  
  
  
  
  


And because he knows the type of friendship Donghyuck and Jeno share, Jaemin doesn’t feel it’s right calling him and Jeno best friends. They’re nowhere near as deep as that. That’s probably why Jaemin hasn’t called Jeno his best friend ever since they met. They’re even more inseparable. They naturally gravitate towards each other, and it’s fine like this.

Jaemin’s fine with calling Jeno his special friend because he doesn’t think he can handle limiting their growth to just “best friends’’ either. At some point, Jaemin started hating the term “best friends” because it meant having to swallow his feelings for Jeno. 

See, even Jeno hasn’t ever pushed for the “best friend” agenda. They’re very intimate with each other. Sometimes, when they’re laying together on Jeno’s bed in silence, Jaemin thinks it wouldn’t be out of character to lean in and kiss Jeno’s cheek. Sometimes, when Jeno walks in on him cooking in the kitchen, Jaemin thinks it would have been totally expected that Jeno gives him a back hug while asking what he’s cooking. Yes, just like those sappy romantic movies. 

Sometimes, they can stare into each other’s eyes, and Jaemin would know what goes on in that pretty little head of his. 

Jaemin wants Jeno. So, so much it’s kind of upsetting him. 

“Jeno, I’m sorry,” Jaemin mumbles as he pathetically curls in on himself. 

Jeno laughs. He caresses Jaemin’s hair as he shakes his head goodnaturedly. “For what?”

“I was just joking the other day,” Jaemin tries to come up with some halfhearted excuse. 

“You avoid me for a week and then you expect me to believe it was just a joke?” Jeno swats his arm. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

Jaemin goes mum. He shifts on the bed, tossing over to lay on his other side to avoid Jeno’s eyes. He hears another laugh behind him, and Jaemin feels like burying himself 6 feet underground from the embarrassment that coddles him at that very moment. He feels Jeno’s hand caressing his hair again.

“Jaemin, I’m demisexual.”

“What?” Jaemin sits up on bed, almost elbowing Jeno in the face as he does so. “Sorry! But what?”

“I mean, I know we’re very close, and I know I can trust you with my life but I plan to keep you for life. And I know I’ll catch feelings. I’m not the type to have meaningless sex. So, if it’s just sex that you want, then it’s better to say no—”

“I like you!” Jaemin announces. “I like you so much, you have no fucking idea!”

“You do?” Jeno’s eyes widened. 

“Of course I do! What the actual fuck? How could I not?” Jaemin scowls.

“Then, why didn’t you just confess instead of asking to have sex with me?” Jeno makes a sound that could perfectly define confusion.

“Haven’t we been friends long enough? There’s obviously something wrong with me!” 

Jeno bursts out laughing; all crinkled eyes and wide grins. Jaemin giggles as he stares. A minute later, Jeno proposes that they watch a movie. To which Jaemin agrees immediately. Halfway in, though, he shoots Jeno a look.

“You like me too, right? We’re dating, right?” Jaemin frowns.

“Of course,” Jeno responds while his eyes are still glued to the screen of his laptop. 

“So, can we have sex?” 

“Why are you so obsessed in getting into my pants? Baby steps. We haven’t even gone out on a date.” 

“Babe, we took a trip to Busan together. I think that was, like, 7 dates in two days.” 

Jeno pauses the movie. He stares right into Jaemin’s twinkling eyes, as if calculating something. “Donghyuck was right. You do want me—”

“That little shit told you?” 

“—but not today, alright?”

“Motherfucking piece of shit,” Jaemin curses Donghyuck. When he finally takes in Jeno’s words, he malfunctions. “Wait, did you say not today? It’s not, like, a no for forever? You trust me enough? You think we’re close enough?” 

“If we’re not close, then I don’t think I could ever experience sex.” Jeno snorts. “So, yes, I trust you more than enough, and I think we’re close enough.” 

“You’re close with Donghyuck too. What makes me different?” Jaemin questions.

“I’m close with Doyoung too, why don’t you ask me why I don’t want him?” Jeno deadpans. “It’s about preferences. I can’t have sex without the romance bit even if I’m demisexual or not, and I like you romantically. There’s that.”

“Aw!” Jaemin cooes. “You like me romantically! I like you romantically too!”

“Yeah, I got that,” Jeno teases.

“You’re so cute.” Jaemin pulls Jeno into a hug.

  
  
  
  
  
  


“Guys, meet my boyfriend,” Donghyuck calls out to the practice room filled to the brim with the other members. 

They all turn back to see Jeno and Donghyuck come in hand in hand. From the other side of the room, Jaemin hisses out a “Fuck you!” right as Renjun feigns surprise and gives them a heartfelt applause. Mark and Jisung burst out laughing while Chenle pokes fun at Jaemin. Jaemin shoots Donghyuck one last glare before Jeno walks over to him with a smile. 

“Okay, in all seriousness, meet the new couple!” Donghyuck swerves the attention to them.

Another round of applause and cheers, but it’s now directed to them. Jaemin basks in the attention while Jeno smiles the humiliation away. 

“I love my gays!” Johnny screams from somewhere in the room.

“Yeah, gays!”

Soon, the room is full of people chanting “gay” over and over again. Donghyuck frantically tries to calm them down so as to not attract the staff’s attention, knowing that it would definitely be him if they had to blame someone for causing this commotion. At the side, Chenle doesn’t stop cackling.

  
  
  
  
  
  


“Nades rides the bicycle a lot,” Johnny says.

After the camera has been switched off and they’re wiping their makeup off, Jaemin turns to Johnny with a puzzled expression. “I haven’t ridden the bike in a while now, though.”

“Oh, haven’t you heard? Nicki Minaj came up with this new bike,” Johnny seems nonchalant about it, but Jaemin knows that he’s about to say something stupid. Even so, Jaemin curiously offers him the chance to say that something stupid by asking what he means. Johnny sleazily grins, responding with, “Dick bicycle.”

“I hate—”

**Author's Note:**

> this was also an excuse for me to write nahyuck's friendship dynamic lmfaoooo. if u've read my other fic (the jaemin-centric one) you would've known i love nahyuck/nohyuck cos their dynamics >>>>>>>>> (dont be surprised if i write a polyamory fic one day just to self-indulge) this was also an excuse for me to write demisexuality but like trying to like explain it lowkey. 
> 
> hehe as always fact and scenes;
> 
> 1\. i was gonna write a few more sections where i word vomit over renjun/jaemin and renjun/jeno dynamics but i didnt wanna drag this out
> 
> 2\. yes johnny was purely mentioned several times for comic relief im sorry but like not at the same time. i love the dude pls dont get me wrong <3 
> 
> 3\. 19 members chanting GAY! GAY! GAY! to jeno and jaemin while chenle laughs and hyuck gets worried? fucking hilarious i tell you. the mental image made me laugh for like 3 minutes straight.
> 
> 4\. i was gonna write more pining and u know like make jaemin bust out these banger ass pickup lines but i realised thats pretty unrealistic of nomin cos i think if this rlly happened they'd shut the problem down very very quickly with either rejection or acceptance. 
> 
> 5\. i repeat: NOHYUCK/NAHYUCK SUPREMACY!!! 
> 
> 6\. i got another idea to write a renhyuck fic from this hhhhhhhhhhhh 
> 
> HEHE THATS IT. is this a crack fic? i dont think so right? anyway hope you enjoyed!!!! i loved writing this it was fun. leave comments my dudes and tell me if u liked it <3
> 
> my [IG](https://www.instagram.com/warmdaelight/) | [TWT](https://twitter.com/jenoryy)  
> 


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